


Stolen

by ElectricDove



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, School Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 16:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7275382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricDove/pseuds/ElectricDove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhett and Link reunite at their high school reunion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stolen

**Author's Note:**

> One week tier prompt: Dashboard Confessional - [Stolen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j82FBbgpUy4&feature=youtu.be)

Link checks his reflection one last time, straightening his bright blue tie and smoothing his new jacket, making sure there’s nothing between his teeth and his zipper is up.

_Take a deep breath, calm down man.. He’s probably not even gonna be here.._

Standing in the boys’ bathroom at his old high school feels achingly familiar, but nerve wracking all the same. He spent so much of his adolescence here, the old building filled with memories, good and bad at the same time.

_Bittersweet_

 

Taking a deep breath, he finally gets out of the stale smelling bathroom, walking towards the aula where the high school reunion celebration is being held. The place is decorated with balloons and streamers, festive but a bit lame, clearly on a low budget and nothing at all what he’s become used to from the occasional parties he’s attended in Los Angeles.  
There are groups of people clustered together, even though they’re all older now and definitely no longer teenagers by any stretch of the imagination, everyone still finds comfort in the old and familiar.

He’s browsing through the crowd, his heartbeat a little quicker than usual as he keeps an eye out for someone familiar. Spotting a couple of his old friends, easy and straightforward old friends, he almost convinces himself he’s not disappointed he doesn’t spot _that_ old friend.  
Making his way over to the beverage table, intent on joining his old friends to catch up, his heart feels heavy and his hand shaky as he grabs a cup of punch, favoring the sweet drink over the bottles of beers and glasses of wine.

_It’s not like you’d know what to say to him, right? What’s there to say? After all this time.._

 

“Hey Link.”

The low voice, no longer cracking and breaking but still oh so familiar, stops him dead in his tracks. As he’s turning around, Link feels like a high schooler all over again, racing heart and sweaty palms. Standing there in their old high school, 10 years after graduation he’s finally face to face again with his former best friend, Rhett McLaughlin.

The two men take a moment to take each other in, eyes travelling over once-familiar figures. A lot has happened in 10 years, a lot has changed.

Rhett has gained some weight, the added pounds giving his former lanky friend a more solid and muscled body. He looks good, dressed in nice but slightly more casual clothes, different from Link’s attire but also very much different from his younger self. Link knows Rhett’s younger self would’ve never worn dark jeans that tight, or such a bold, blood red button up. But then again, his own younger self would’ve never worn anything that wasn’t brown or dark blue either.

Smoothing his nervous hands over his jeans, Link’s gaze finally settles on Rhett’s face. He takes a long moment to take it all in, the changed and the unchanged things about Rhett’s face. The beard is very new and unfamiliar, bushy and full, mostly obscuring his jaw and the mole just above his upper lip. In a flash of longing and sentimentality he misses that mole fiercely, almost reaching out to touch where it must be hidden beneath dark blond hair.

_Why’d you hide that mole.. I used to kiss that small mole all the time.._

 

Some things are still the same though, unchanged after all these years. Rhett’s eyes, those big grey jade eyes, are still filled with too much emotion and too painful for Link to watch too closely. They could always tell him so much, even if Rhett was not able to express his feelings in words or actions, Link knew because he would see them so clearly in the way way Rhett looked at him.

The last time he looked into those eyes, there had been too much there, things that were too much for his young mind to handle. Thinking back to the way his younger self acted, Link feels ashamed now, too easily angered and lashing out because he couldn’t understand back then. If Rhett wanted to break them apart like that, he’d made sure they didn’t get a clean break. Link made sure they would rip apart, the edges jagged and sharp.

He likes to think he’s changed, a better man now than he was back then, calmer and wiser maybe. But now that he’s confronted with those eyes again, he’s not so sure, as the edges of his broken heart still feel sharp inside his chest.

 

It’s Rhett who finally breaks the connection, looking away with a soft smile on his lips and an apologetic look in his eyes. Rhett’s presence takes his breath away, making him feel light-headed before Link finally feels like he can breathe again. Taking a big gulp of air, he looks anywhere but Rhett’s face.

“I was looking for you, wasn’t sure you’d show up to be honest.”

“You look good.”

There’s a long moment of silence between the two statements, Link’s hands clenching as he stands there, breathing hard and staring at the distance between their feet, unfamiliar shoes far apart.

_He’s got new shoes, of course he has new shoes, but still… I still have mine._

He thinks about his own pair of shoes, old and worn to the thread, but still in a shoebox hidden in the back of his closet. Grey high top sneakers, bought in their last summer together, a matching pair. The memories he has of those shoes are precious to him, touching as they stood too close to each other, always in the other’s personal space. Even after he lost the boy wearing them, Link still wore those shoes every day in college, every step a memory of their time together.  

Thinking about this is painful too and doesn’t distract him nearly as well as he hoped for. They are no longer those boys, they are no longer best friends, they are certainly no longer those same boys who were so in love that they wanted to share every aspect of their life together until suddenly they couldn’t.

But Link can’t do this either, making small talk with Rhett, acting like normal people who are reconnecting after 10 years. Not when his heart still feels this way, when his mind is flooding with bittersweet memories of their youth spent together.

 

_This is not how.. I want.. I can’t_

“I can’t do this, Rhett. Not like this. I can’t stand here and make casual conversation with you. I.. I need to-”

He needs to turn away and get out of here. It was a mistake to come here in the first place. He thought he was ready, hopeful that he could face the past and maybe even face Rhett. But he was wrong. He’s not ready yet, maybe he never will be.

They’re already attracting the attention of several people, blocking the way to the drinks and radiating their tension, which feels severely out of place at the celebration and the easy chatter around them. Before he can move away and run from Rhett, Link’s hand is engulfed in the achingly familiar warmth of Rhett’s. He didn’t know it was possible, but the shards in his chest feel a bit duller now, jabbing his insides a little less as Rhett grabs onto him and entwines their fingers together.

 

“Let’s get outta here.. I think we need to talk. In private.”

Link lets himself be led out of the aula, leaving behind their old friends and classmates in search of a secluded place.

Following Rhett.

Just like before. Like always.

Some things stay the same, even when everything else changes. Link can’t imagine a world where he wouldn’t follow Rhett. Except he did exactly that for too long.

 

With Rhett tugging on his hand, leading him down the darkened hall past old classrooms and study halls, Link lets himself check out a bit. All these memories, pushed away over the years, too painful, resurfacing now that he once again in Rhett’s company, back at their old school and following Rhett God knows where.

Passing their old French classroom brings back memories of them studying together, giggling over their homework and sneaking kisses in between badly pronounced French words.

When everything was still good between them, it was just amazing, fulfilling every need and want he'd ever have. Link had never felt that with anyone before, or after. Nobody never even came close to Rhett, to the love they had shared, And how could they, when his heart still belonged to his best friend, who stole it when they were little boys and never gave it back.

They made plans together for their future, big plans to do something great together. They even made a pact, messily signed with their blood, promising the world to each other. They would get to college together, preferably film school, take over Hollywood and later the world. But when the time came, when reality came crashing into their plans, everything fell apart and it was never good between them anymore.

Link remembers that day so well. He’d been so happy, ecstatic even, when his acceptance letter from UCLA came with the mail. This would be the start of their big plans. They’d specifically chosen a university far away from home, wanting to break free from the small town mentality and have the freedom to explore their relationship. All of that happiness and hope evaporated when Rhett told him the truth, told him about how his parents wouldn’t let him go to film school, wanted their son to do something useful and had made him apply for Engineering at NC State.

Rhett had kept all of this to himself, telling Link only now, because he had to. He’d wanted to protect Link, wanted to make sure Link wouldn’t throw his dreams away because of him. But Link didn’t understand back then, and even now he still didn’t quite get Rhett’s reasoning. He would’ve thrown everything away, followed Rhett everywhere if it meant doing it all together.

But it’d been too late by then and the choices were already made for him. His mother would’ve grounded him forever if he backed down from UCLA now after spending months talking about nothing else and there was no use in trying to change Rhett’s mind, their futures already set in stone.

 

Link had hated it, he’d pleaded with Rhett, cried with him, yelled and fought with him over their broken promise.

But when the time came and their graduation day was behind them, there was nothing left to fight over anymore. Their last fight, their final day spent together, was a clear and harsh memory for Link.

_“I hate you! I don’t even get why I would want to spend my life with you anyway, you’re a selfish jerk! Go on and do the ‘right thing’. You should probably find a nice stupid wife while you’re at it, too! I’m so done with you!”_

 After that, there was no more Rhett and Link, no more days spent together over the summer before college, there were no tearful goodbyes or teary kisses. After that there was 10 years without any kind of contact between the two of them, until now.

 

_What the heck are we doing here?_

Link remembers the place all too well. It’s their place. A little nook behind some cabinets. They used to sit here during the winters, when they couldn’t spend their free time outside and they wanted a private place for just the two of them. Standing there now, Link remembers how Rhett always needed to bend his head a bit to fit there. And sure enough, looking at the tall bearded man standing in their old private place with his head bent low, Link can’t help the chuckle that escapes his lips.

Rhett’s eyes on him are fond, soft with wellknown emotions. There’s affection there, still after all this time, maybe even love. He tugs Link closer with their linked hands, stepping up himself to cross the distance between them.

 

“I was wrong to think we could do this the casual way.”

It helps to see the struggle on Rhett’s face, the difficulties he has with articulating his feelings on the matter. Link relaxes a bit. It’s good to know he’s not alone in this, his stomach twisting with anxiety for what is to come. Still, he doesn’t speak, letting Rhett do the hard part of talking it through.

“I- Gosh, this is harder than I thought. Coming here tonight, I had all these elaborate ideas on how to win you back with my charm and all the right words.”

Rhett laughs self-deprecatingly at Link’s raised eyebrows. He runs his free hand through his hair, messing up the careful upright style.

“Yeah.. I know. But still, a man can hope, right?”

They share a small laugh at that, their voices mixing together sound better than ever, music to Link’s ears after having missed it for so long.

 

“I missed you, bo. More than I could’ve ever imagined, I missed you so much…”

Rhett takes a deep breath, the buttons on his shirt straining with the force of it, before he continues.

“I was wrong. I was stupid and scared and I wanted to do the right thing, but I was wrong, so wrong, Link. I want to make it right again, I want to make it up to you and I thought tonight would be the night to start fresh, start something new with you, maybe. But seeing you here.. Actually seeing you, man. Not staring at those stupid teenage photos of us, but actually seeing you, it messed me up. All I can think about is how stupid I was. I should’ve never let you go. I should’ve followed you and told you every day how much I loved you. Crap.”

 

Rhett’s hand in his is sweaty and gripping a bit too tight, but it’s anchoring him, keeping Link tethered to the ground when Rhett’s words make his broken heart want to fly away from him.

It’s everything he wanted to hear from Rhett, honestly. Everything he needed to hear and everything he thought he would never get to hear. Taking a step closer feels like the right thing to do, the noses of their new shoes touching one another as Link invades Rhett’s personal space.

 

“You really should have.”

Rhett’s sad puppy face is still as effective now as it was 10 years ago, but Link tries to keep his face serious. This part is important, he needs to get this off his chest now, before they begin something new or possibly continue where they left off.

“I loved you so much, Rhett. I would’ve followed you till the end of the world, everywhere. That crap about me being happy and doing what I love is just... I wanted to go to film school, yeah sure.. But most of all, I wanted to go to film school with you! It was you, Rhett. Us together. You were so dumb..”

“I thought..”

“Stop thinking, Rhett. You don’t need to think for me, we’ve established that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

 

Genuine sorrow is not a good look on Rhett’s handsome face, deepening the lines around his eyes and making him look older than he is. Link smoothes a hand over the lines, gently tracing them as he lays his palm on Rhett’s beard. The soft hairs feel strange, not bad, but new. The way Rhett moves into his hand is nothing new, closing his eyes as the lines around them disappear.

“Could you forgive me?”

“Yeah.”

Their whispers are quiet in the deserted hallway, faint noises from the celebrations still going on in the distance. Link takes another step closer, pressing up against Rhett’s warm body, relieved as Rhett’s arm automatically comes up to wrap around his back and press him even closer.

“You said ‘loved’, do you still love me?”

Link takes a deep breath, his nose pressed up against Rhett’s chest. His scent is still the same, filling his nose and his lungs before he exhales heavily.

“Yeah.. I said ‘Always’, didn’t I?”

 

This memory is better, nothing bittersweet about him and Rhett near the river, playing at the shore and throwing rocks into the water. Link had found a rock shaped like a heart and had given it to Rhett. His best friend had looked at him with big eyes, filled with admiration and easy love.

 " _It’s for you, Bo.”_

_“Really?”_

_“Yeah.. Cause you stole my heart!”_

They’d laughed, giggled with red cheeks and bright eyes. They’d hugged then, pressed close their small bodies close together, Link almost disappearing inside Rhett’s embrace.

_“I love ya, buddy roll.”_

_“Love ya. Always.”_

Link had said the heartfelt sentiment, adding the ‘always’ almost as an afterthought. But it felt so right in that moment, his love for Rhett seemingly everlasting and filling every part of his being. He couldn’t imagine a life without his best friend in the world.

 

Having lived the last ten years without his best friend, Link knows it’s definitely not what he wants. He’s willing to forgive and forget a lot if it means they could finally begin their long awaited future plans. Together. So when Rhett hooks a finger under his chin, lifting up his face to look him in the eye, licking his lips in preparation for their reunion kiss, Link is ready. Ready for it to be good again.

“I love ya, Link. Always.”


End file.
